1835 Attack at Sandies Water Hole
Gonzales County, Gonzales County, Texas
Marker Inscription
1835 ATTACK AT SANDIES WATER HOLE NATIVE AMERICAN RAIDS WERE A MAJOR CONCERN OF DEWITT’S COLONY, WHICH SETTLED IN THIS AREA AFTER ITS 1825 ESTABLISHMENT. TO PROTECT THE COLONISTS, GREEN DeWITT BUILT A FORT IN GONZALES AND REQUESTED TROOPS AND A CANNON FROM MEXICAN AUTHORITIES. IN 1835, A PARTY OF THIRTEEN FRENCH AND MEXICAN TRADERS, EN ROUTE FROM NATCHITOCHES, LOUISIANA TO MEXICO, CAMPED AT SANDIES WATER HOLE (1 mi. E). A LARGE GROUP OF WHAT IS BELIEVED TO BE COMANCHE ATTACKED THE PARTY. THE ENGAGEMENT LASTED SEVERAL HOURS, RESULTING IN THE DEATH OF ALL THIRTEEN MEN. THE COLONISTS DID NOT RECEIVE FURTHER PROTECTION FROM THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT, AND ATTACKS CONTINUED AT SANDIES WATER HOLE INTO TEXAS STATEHOOD. (2010)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Raids were a constant fear in DeWitt's Colony after its 1825 founding, and Green DeWitt built a fort at Gonzales and begged Mexican authorities for troops and a cannon. In 1835 a party of thirteen French and Mexican traders bound from Natchitoches to Mexico camped at Sandies Water Hole, where a large force—believed to be Comanche—fell upon them. The fight lasted hours and left all thirteen dead, and with no help forthcoming from the Mexican government, such attacks continued at the site into Texas statehood.
Why it matters
The bloody contest over the Texas frontier between Native nations and encroaching colonists shaped the region for decades and helped drive the settlers' break with Mexico.
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Related people
- · Green DeWitt
Related events
- · 1835 attack at Sandies Water Hole
Themes & tags
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